


After the War

by KawaiiSpider



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Dark, F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:27:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21565315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KawaiiSpider/pseuds/KawaiiSpider
Summary: It's been a year since Zuko's father's defeat at the hands of Avatar Aang. Zuko struggles with his past and future, searching for happiness in a world trying to redefine itself after one hundred years of fighting.Only the original series is canon for this work. (Books: Water, Earth Fire)
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Only the original animated series is canon for this work, so nothing in Korra or the comics applies to this story in any way.

Firelord Zuko held his head in his hands, desperately trying to ignore the incessant murmur of his  advisors' voice in his head, stuck in an endless loop since the meetings with them earlier that day. Mei was not helping his mental state either, complaining about some household servant who had messed up some minor task. 

Zuko missed his uncle. Iroh had been a source of wisdom in the year since Aang had defeated  Ozai , but Iroh had been away for months now, gone on secret White Lotus business. He also missed the gang, Aang, Sokka, Toph, even the animals. But most of all, he missed Katara, missed her calming influence and wisdom that rivalled Iroh’s. Her and Aang had left together, but according to his spies, Aang had vanished on Avatar business, and Katara had busied herself aiding with the repair of the Southern Water tribe, which Zuko had sent resources to aid.

Zuko felt totally lost without them. Before he had joined their gang, he had one driving purpose, and he had replaced that purpose with a new one at first, defeating his father, and then replaced that with the bonds of friendship. But now that friendship was gone. Zuko felt more alone now than he ever had before. Mei was here, but they were totally different people now, both of them. Mei’s family, who had lost a great deal of power in the transition, was putting a lot of pressure on her to influence his decisions, and while he still liked her, the spark had faded, and nearly all affection had stopped.

She had even tried to bribe him with sex, offering her body in exchange for an exclusive manufacturing deal that her mother wanted. That had been the end of their romantic relationship for Zuko. The only reason she was still here was that he was too afraid of being truly alone to end it properly. Zuko swore under his breath and looked up, out of the window and across the capital city, still just as externally beautiful as he remembered it as a child, though now each building seemed to be mocking him, mocking his rule. He turned away.

Mei was looking at him, apparently expecting something.   
“What?”, he snapped.   
She frowned at him.   
“I was just asking if you wanted to eat dinner together tonight.”   
Her tone was reproachful and her eyes were sad.   
“No, thank you, have the servants bring something to my study later.”   
She nodded, and then withdrew. Zuko’s head went back to his hands. He felt a tear forming at the corner of his scarred eye, and he steeled himself against the pain and loneliness, breathing deeply and causing all the candles and oil lanterns to flare for a moment.

He had to do something, and he  thought he  knew exactly what it was.

At midnight, he left the palace through the secret exit, hooded robes covering his face. The path to the prison was twisted and treacherous, but Zuko knew it well, even in the dark, and the symbol of the  Firelord that he carried forced the guards to let him wordlessly through. Slowly, he made his way to Azula’s cage, once again wracked with guilt over what he had been forced to do to his sister.

Azula was suspended in a stone chamber, metal rods forced through her flesh, carefully placed on advice of the chi-blockers in order to totally prevent her bending. She had proved herself too dangerous to allow any sort of freedom. Since her initial incarceration, there had been two escapes, both ending with massive loss of life to both guards and civilians. So Zuko had sent for  Ti Lee and his best metalsmiths and together had created this abomination.  Ti Lee hadn’t spoken to him since.

Azula snarled at him as he entered, and then her expression twisted into a wide, and quite mad grin, as she realised who it was.   
“My darling brother! Have you come to see your sister again, strung up and helpless? Does it makes you feel powerful, make you feel strong?”   
“Shut up!”   
Zuko’s fist slammed against the bars of the cage.   
“You did this to yourself. The people wanted you executed after what you did to that family the last time you escaped! The throne looks weak just by sparing your life.”   
“Is that all you care about now? Your precious throne. Your precious power?”   
“That’s not-“   
“My throne!” Her voice rose in pitch along with volume. “IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MINE!”   
“SHUT UP!” His voice was angry too, and he slammed the bars again with his fists. “SHUT UP!”

She grinned again, her voice suddenly quiet gain.   
“Poor little Zuko, trapped like a fly in a web.”   
She twisted her body, apparently unable to feel the sharp shards of metal that cut deeper into her flesh. Zuko could see blood running across her skin.   
“So why did you come this time? Just to see me, or is there something else bothering you?”   
Even trapped like this, half crazed and hopeless, Azula remained as cunning and manipulative as ever.   
“Let’s see if you can guess.”   
“Oh, a game! How fun!”   
“Azula…”   
“Fine, fine.”   
She paused for a moment, looking carefully at his face.   
“I think that you and darling Mei are splitting up. She’s too much of a bitch for goody-two-shoes Zuko. Oh, I’m right, I can tell by your face.”   
She laughed loudly at this, her whole body shaking.   
“There is something else as well, isn’t there? All your friends are gone, Uncle Iroh as well, oh and you want to just abdicate the throne, but you can’t, can you, because then I’ll be in charge.”

Her laughter rang through the cave where she hung and Zuko seemed to shrink before it.   
“Well Zuko, what are you going to do? Take a holiday? Leave the advisors in charge? But no, they are all selfish brats, raised in our father’s world. Without you to overrule them, the war starts again in three days. You could have them all executed, but then you lose all their knowledge and power. And you desperately need that knowledge, the banished prince missed a great many important lessons in statecraft while scouring the world for a lost child.”

It was too much for Zuko , he broke into a run as he left, chased by the insane laughter of his only remaining family.

Zuko didn’t sleep that night, or the next.

When he finally slept, his dreams were only of Katara. He had seen her bathing once, and the memory was burned into his mind so clearly that he might as well have had a painting. Her dark skin, soft and smooth, wet with the water she bent to clean herself. Toph had been there too, but he could barely remember her at all, so entranced he had been by Katara’s figure. In his memory he had turned quickly away, but in his dreams, he watched her playing in the water for a long time, before the dream shifted, and she was suddenly in his bed, sharing her warmth with him. He woke too early in the dream, and he had to resist the urge to summon a concubine. The palace still had a harem of young women, though Zuko had never called upon their services. He allowed them to stay for two reasons, the first was that they had a lot of palace intelligence that he didn’t want to get out, and the second was that he felt guilty at the thought of turning them onto the street.

There was a knock at his door an hour or two later, and a few servants let themselves in, bringing him breakfast and the morning intelligence. He had inherited his father’s spy network and had repurposed them to maintaining peace throughout the Fire Nation and beyond. There were reports from the Earth Kingdoms, where many wars had flared up since the Fire Nations surrender. Without a common enemy, the various cities, kingdoms and nation-states had resumed generation old struggles, and the soldiers, experienced from fighting the Fire Nation for a hundred years were quickly put to use in these battles and skirmishes. It was here that Aang and Iroh were, or so Zuko suspected. His spies had reported seeing the Avatar on numerous occasions, though Aang did not seem to be making any progress in forcing peace talks. There was a troubling pattern emerging, anyone who seemed dedicated to peace was ending up dead, either in battle, accident, or the occasional mysterious murder. Zuko had spies searching for any links between the deaths but had so far found nothing. Even a number of low ranked members of The Order of the White Lotus had been killed, and Master  Piandao ’s castle had been destroyed with blasting powder, though the Master had escaped unharmed.

Zuko read the new reports quickly, scanning for news of his friends or other important details. The papers were filled with failure. A number of his spies were dead, or had not found anything of import, and there were no new reports of the Avatar’s whereabouts. One report was about the rise of a new bandit threat in the south of the Earth Kingdoms. The report said that the leader was a young woman, barely more than a child, who had somehow gathered a large coalition of bandits and pirates, as well as a large contingent of ex-Earth Kingdom soldiers. Frustrated, Zuko threw the papers on his bed and lay back, eyes closed. This day was not looking like an improvement. There was another knock at the door, and Zuko opened his eyes as it opened, revealing yet another servant. She entered the room holding a scroll, sealed with a ribbon in distinctive blue. Nearly tearing the letter in his haste to read it, Zuko’s eyes flashed across the scroll.

_ Zuko _

_ I can’t say too much in  _ _ writing, but I desperately need your help. I know it might be hard for you to find the time, but please,  _ _ meet me  _ _ in the  _ _ S _ _ outhern  _ _ W _ _ ater  _ _ T _ _ ribe  _ _ as soon as you can. _

_ With love, Katara _

At once, Zuko sprang to his feet and began issuing orders. A few hours later, his ship was ready, his council had strict instructions on how to proceed, and the only two advisors he trusted were placed in charge until his return. Katara’s message had cut through his uncertainty like a hot blade. The last thing he did before he left was talk to Mei. He explained where he was going, and why she was not coming with him.   
“I’m sorry Mei, but I just don’t love you like that anymore. I hope that our friendship will continue past this, and I hope that you eventually find love with someone else.”   
She didn’t cry, and gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.   
“Good luck with your mission, I’ll be back at my parent’s house when you return.”

As she left, Zuko felt a pang of loss and wondered if he had truly done the right thing, but  his heart was filled with resolve, and a yearning for adventure that was stronger than it had ever been. He was searching for the Avatar once more, but this time it was not shame or pride that compelled him, but love, honour , and a duty to peace.

He smiled, and the smile flowed through his whole body for the first time in a year.


	2. The Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko is waylaid by a storm, there is trouble on the island.

The captain of The Royal Vessel was as older woman, one armed and grumpy, but she was an excellent captain, and Zuko found that she sometimes reminded him of Iroh. She entered his rooms on the second day of their voyage, saluting as she did.  
“Firelord Zuko, there is a storm blocking our path, do you want to seek shelter in an Earth Kingdom port or push through?”  
He thought for a moment.  
“The safety of the crew and this ship is more important, take us in.”

The Royal Vessel nearly entirely filled the dock of the little fishing village they stopped in, forcing a few of the locals to pull their boats onto the beach instead. The mayor, a tiny old woman with no hair greeted Zuko as he stepped off his ship.  
“Firelord Zuko, it is an honour to welcome you to our humble town.”  
She bowed, and Zuko returned it.  
“Please, the honour is mine.”  
“Come come, let us prepare a feast.”  
She took him by the hand and slowly began pulling him along towards the largest building with surprising force, though her hands were a little shaky and her steps rather short. As they walked, she pointed out the various buildings and sights of interest.  
“My grandfather planted that tree you know, on the day I was born. A fine specimen, don’t you think?”  
But as Zuko turned to look at the tree, along with his guards, the woman suddenly pulled his head down to whisper in his ear.  
“Firelord Zuko, I must ask a favour of you. There are some bandits hiding in the hills, and they have threatened to burn the village if we do not pay them every week. They have spies here in the town, so discretion is needed to catch them unprepared.”  
Her words were quick, and an instant later she had released him, pointing back to the tree.  
“It’s a pearapple tree, delicious fruit.”

Zuko hid his surprise well, straightening up and looking at the tree before glancing around. He could not see anything that seemed overly suspicious, but he readied himself anyway as the Mayor led him and his retinue further into the town. Soon they came to the town hall, where they were assigned a suite of rooms and were informed that a feast would be prepared and eaten after midnight, giving Zuko three hours to think and formulate a plan. After a few minutes he sent one of his servants to fetch a local and a map of the island. Soon both were presented to him, the map was rough but serviceable, and the local was a pretty girl a year or two younger than he was. His servants had perhaps misread his intentions.

The girl bowed as she entered. She had long dark hair and was wearing a silk skirt and a top with long green sleeves.  
“Firelord, my name is Mingzhu, I would be honoured to serve you.”  
Her hands went to her top, pulling it open to reveal a pair of full breasts. Zuko’s eyes bulged a little before he quickly looked away.  
“No, umm. You misunderstand, that is not the service I require of you. Please, stay dressed…”  
“I’m sorry,” the girls stammered, “I thought…”  
Zuko turned back to see her hugging her chest, her face red with embarrassment.  
“I… uh… I need information about the island.”  
“Oh. Of course, Firelord.”

“You can call me Zuko.”  
“Of course, Zuko.” She grinned shyly at him, still red.  
“Thank you. Now, I understand that this island has an issue with bandits, do you know where they are likely to be based?”  
Comprehension dawned on the girl, and her embarrassment began to fade as she looked over the map that Zuko laid out on the table.  
“Here, there is a little valley between those two hills, it’s the only place on the island aside from the town that is safe during the storms. That is the only place they could be.”  
“Excellent, thank you. Not a word of this to anyone, understand?”  
She nodded, and he pulled out his coin purse, reaching in a pulling out a number of gold coins.  
“Here, for your service.”  
Her hand started to move to take the coins before she stopped suddenly, a strange look on her face.  
“Firelord… I mean Lord Zuko, perhaps I could have something else, something more personal.”  
Her top was still a little open, and she lent forward very slightly, drawing Zuko’s gaze to her chest once again.  
“You are very kind, and very pretty, but I just dumped my girlfriend less than 24 hours ago so no thank you. Take the money, please.”  
There was a look of immense disappointment on her face as she did so, and Zuko felt a pang of guilt as she left. But he did not have time for pointless wallowing now, and he quickly wrote up orders for his men to assemble covertly after the feast before drawing up plans of attack. Covert was his speciality, years of practice hunting the avatar and then hunting down assassins and other dissident elements of his nation after the war had left him with skills that would be immensely helpful here.

The promised storm arrived before the feast, but it was nonetheless pleasant, with dancers and an earthbending demonstration from a local master. The woman turned the local stones from the cliffs into intricate sculptures that captured and directed water in amazing ways. Zuko was reminded almost of Katara’s waterbending style as the woman worked, a distinct change from the main earthbending style of the Earth Kingdom warriors and his friend Toph’s unique style. When the meal was completed and the entertainment finished, Zuko received the signal from his lieutenant that indicated that his troops were in position. He thanked his hosts and returned to his room before putting on his armour and jumping out the window to meet up with his soldiers. Following the map in the moonlight, they quickly travelled across the island, soon spotting the campfires of what could only be the bandits in the distance. As Zuko surveyed the camp, he saw that some of their equipment had the unmistakable mark of being Earth Kingdom Army issue. These bandits were clearly deserters or had stolen the gear from some soldiers somewhere.

Near the edge of the bandit’s camp, there were three rough stone cages, earthbent in order to hold what looked like prisoners. As he watched, one of the bandits, still wearing Earth Kingdom armour, though it was uncared for and dirty, threw a mess of gruel through the bars, which the prisoners ate eagerly off the ground. This was more than enough for Zuko, and he turned and gave the signal before standing up and walking directly towards the camp. He watched as one of the bandits sentries turned towards him before one of his soldiers who had also crept forward grabbed him from behind and stabbed him in the throat, killing him before he had the chance to cry out. The soldier gave Zuko a thumbs up before dragging the dead bandit backwards, retrieving her dagger from the corpse as she did so. Over on the other side, two more lookouts were killed, allowing Zuko to step into the firelight completely without warning.

His sudden appearance took the bandits by surprise, one moment they were eating and drinking, telling a story about an old man they had once robbed, and the next they were stumbling around, trying to ready weapons as Zuko cut through them. His twin broadswords flashed in the firelight, slicing through the bandits as if they were smoke. He did not even need to use his firebending, dodging earthbending and spears alike. His troops moved forward to block the bandits that tried to escape Zuko’s fury, running them through with spears or blasting them with flames that burned clothes and cooked flesh. The fight was over in less than thirty seconds, with two injured Fire Nation soldiers and thirteen bandits dead on the ground. Two of the bandits had wisely thrown down their weapons, and they were tied up while Zuko freed the prisoners. Most of the rescued people were not from the island, having been brought there by the bandits, but there was a family who lived outside the town, who had tried to stand up and fight when the bandits came knocking, and had been captured for their trouble. Zuko led them all back to the town, leaving money for the non-islanders to buy passage back to their homes. The towns folk thanked Zuko and his soldiers profusely, offering to throw another feast, but Zuko declined.  
“I was only doing what was right, there is no need to thank me.”  
Mingzhu was there, looking at Zuko with admiration in her eyes, and Zuko felt his resolve weaken.  
“I am tired from the battle, and I would like to sleep. Mayor Lei, can you please ensure that my wounded soldiers are taken care of?”  
“It would be our towns honour to assist the great heroes.”  
“Thank you. I’m heading to bed.”  
  


He looked at Mingzhu again as the crowd dispersed, who now looked suddenly hopeful, and gave in. He nodded at her and gave a jerk of his head. _Come with me._ She grinned widely and followed him back to his room, almost skipping in excitement.  
“Shall I prepare a bath for you, my lord?”  
“Yes please, Mingzhu.”  
“You can just call me Ming, everyone does.”  
“Okay, Ming.”  
He heated the water with a burst of heated air before allowing Ming to undress him. Her fingers traced his many scars as she did so, humming appreciative over his muscled figure. Still clothed, she washed his hair and back before stopping. Zuko opened his eyes and watched as she undressed, taking in every curve. She turned back to him, covering herself a little.  
“Do you want me to join you?”  
He nodded, and she lowered herself into the wooden tub in front of him. The sight of her made his cock swell out of the water, and she looked down at it with a hint of surprise. Moving slowly, she reached out and touched it gently.  
“This is my first time doing anything like this…”  
Her voice was suddenly shy again. He guided her hands to stroke his cock as he lent forward and kissed her deeply. Her mouth was warm and soft, and after a moment her lips parted, and their tongues touched. Her hand stroked harder, and her other hand moved upwards, caressing his chest, and pulling him in. Her returned the favour, cupping one of her breasts in his hand, marvelling at the softness. Her nipple was hard against his palm, and he rubbed against it softly, causing her to moan and shift forward. Both her hands were at his hips now, and his cock was rubbing up between her legs. In their haste to touch each other, one of them knocked out the plug, and the water spilled out onto the floor and down a drain built into the ground. As the water level dropped, Zuko felt his member touch Ming’s wetness between her legs and instinct took over. He pulled her down onto him, his cock sliding inside of her, causing them both to moan. She began to thrust, and he matched her motion, grunting as he did. The feeling swept over him and after just a few thrusts, he came deep inside of her, his whole body jerking as he did.

He felt himself go red, but Ming just kissed him again.  
“I heard from the other girls that all guys do that their first time. Don’t worry about it.”  
He kissed her back and she leaned in, his cock still inside of her. She began to hump once more, softly, and he felt himself begin to swell again. He pulled back and kissed her neck and then her breasts, taking a nipple inside his mouth as he sucked on it. She responded with a groan, increasing her thrusting as he grew hard once more.  
“Touch me.” She whispered, and he obediently moved his hand down between her legs, feeling above where his dick entered her. She guided his hand to her clitoris, moving his fingers in small circles upon it as they both began to thrust harder and faster. Her whole body suddenly convulsed as she came, and the extra stimulation caused him to finish as well, filling her again before pulling out and releasing a second shot across her belly.

She giggled.  
“We need another bath now…”  
Zuko was too out of it to answer. He lay back in the bath, his head spinning a little. Never before had he felt like this. Mei had given him a hand job once, but her disinterest had been a massive turn off, and he had finished by himself onto her hands. Ming cuddled into him, kissing his neck.  
“Can I come with you when you go?”  
Zuko paused for a moment.  
“Sorry…”  
She sighed. “I thought that would be the answer. I hope you find what you are looking for.”  
The pair snuggled for another few minutes before getting out of the bath and cleaning up with towels that had been left there before lying down, still naked and still cuddling.

In the morning, Ming kissed Zuko goodbye as he boarded his ship, making him promise to come back and say hello some time, and she waved until the ship was out of sight, Zuko headed onwards towards Katara.


	3. The Southern Water Tribe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've made a small change in Chapter One, in Katara's note and in the paragraph above.

As the ship started to move, Zuko made himself comfortable in his cabin and immediately started to regret his decision to sleep with Ming. His first time should have been something special, with someone he actually liked, not just a random Earth Kingdom girl. He had let his exhaustion after the battle and his arousal take charge and had not thought through the consequences of his action at all. He took a deep breath, and moved into a kata, the disciplined motions calming his anger. There was no point thinking about what had been done, he just had to learn from his mistakes and move on. When he was calm, he went to find the captain.  
“Firelord Zuko, we are three days from the southern water tribe, as long as the weather remains calm.”  
“Excellent, let me know if there are any issues.”  
“Yes, my lord.”  
Zuko headed back to his room, where he slept for a few hours before writing a letter to his advisors, one to Iroh, and one to Mei, sending them all via messenger hawk before training with his soldiers on deck, patiently waiting for a response.  
The hawk did not return until late the next day, carrying only one letter, a boring missive about the goings on in the Fire Nation in his absence. He skimmed it quickly before tucking it away. He had not expected any other response but was still disappointed. Going on this trip immediately after dumping Mei probably wasn’t the best way for them to remain friends, but he was still determined to try. He skipped dinner that night and went to sleep.  
During the last day of travel, the ship met with a Water Tribe vessel returning from the north pole, and the two ships spent the rest of the trip together, arriving at the new southern water tribe docks at about midday. Zuko looked eagerly over the crowd of people gathered to greet them, but there was no sign of Katara or Sokka. As he descended the gangplank, two figured approached. They were old, one man and one woman, who spoke.  
“Firelord Zuko, welcome to the Southern Water Tribe. I am Kanna, though I expect you have heard of me as Gran Gran, as my grandchildren call me.”  
“You are Katara and Sokka’s grandmother?”  
“Indeed. My granddaughter was sure you would be coming and told me to prepare for your arrival before she left.”  
“She left? Where is she?”  
“That I do not know.”  
“How?-“  
The old man cut him off.  
“Firelord Zuko, your friend needs help, calm yourself and Listen.”  
Zuko nodded and took a deep breath.  
“I am sorry, Kanna. Please, tell me what you know.”  
Kanna smiled.  
“Katana left three days ago, searching for a child who had been taken from the village. We have not heard anything from her since then, and another search party failed to find any sign of her, the child, or the attackers.”  
“Who took the child?”  
“They looked to me like Earth Kingdom bandits. Our allies at Kyoshi have been repeatedly attacked by people who match their descriptions. They are mostly non benders, but they are led by someone who can bend both earth and fire.”  
“That is impossible!”  
The old man nodded.  
“Indeed, only the avatar has ever been known to bend more than one element. It is more likely that they used some trick.”  
“I saw it with my own eyes, Paku. She was bending both, and so young…”  
“Young?” Zuko frowned, remembering the report he had read a few days before.  
“Indeed. Could have been much older than eleven or twelve, and already a powerful bender. We are lucky that she only had earth that she brought herself, or the damage to the village would have been much more severe. Katara and Paku had taken the new students, elsewhere… and the warriors were overwhelmed by the child’s forces. We are lucky that more did not die.”  
Zuko saw the tears in the old woman’s eyes and looked away.  
“I’m sorry. I promise I will find Katara and return her safely and seek vengeance for this attack if I can.”  
“Thank you Zuko, I can see why Katara thought so highly of you.”  
She moved forward and hugged him, and Zuko felt a deep warmth in his heart that he hadn’t felt since he had last seen his uncle.  
“I am sorry to ask so many questions, and I will try to ask much more kindly than last time I asked this, but where is the Avatar?”  
To his surprise, Kanna laughed at this.  
“You were rather ruder the last time you asked that… Aang left here about 10 months ago. He did not say where he was going, and he took Sokka and Suki with him on Appa. I’m sorry I don’t know more.  
Zuko rubbed his face. The lack of information was following him wherever he went and he felt useless, like he was stumbling in the dark without flame nor light to guide him.  
“You look like you could do with a rest. It is nearly night-time, stay here tonight, and you can start your search tomorrow.”  
“Thank you.”  
The village was not much more populated than last time Zuko was here. The war had been hard on the Southern Water Tribe, and even with building materials from the Earth Kingdoms and Fire Nation, the return of its warriors, those who Paku had brought from the Northern Water Tribe, and a few other immigrants, the Southern Water Tribe was still just a tiny village on the edge of an endless expanse of snowy wasteland. Zuko’s arrival had nearly doubled its population, with his crew, courtly assistants, and soldiers almost equal to the village’s population. His people helped prepare a large meal, and everyone ate together on the deck of his ship. During the feast, a young woman approached Zuko. She looked a little younger than him with a vaguely Water Tribe appearance, though she had bright green eyes and the paler skin of the Earth Kingdoms.  
“Firelord Zuko.”  
She didn’t look at him as she curtsied.  
“How can I help you?”  
“Kira, my lord. I just wanted to see if you needed anything, my lord.”  
Her hands played with her top as she did this, and Zuko immediately realised what she wanted. He moved over a little to allow the girl to sit next to him. Her leg brushed his as she did so, and he moved over further, trying to be as transparent as possible.  
“Kira, nice to meet you. You look interesting, who are your parents?”  
“My parents?” She seemed to have got the message, and sat normally beside him, helping herself to some food.  
“My dad was a Water Tribe warrior from here. He met my mum while defending an Earth Kingdom fort from your people. I mean, from Fire Nation…”  
She trailed off.  
“It’s okay. An important part of repairing the damage that my country did is fully recognising the harm we did. Never be afraid to shame the Fire Nation for our actions during the war.”  
To his surprise, a tear formed at the corner of her eye, which she wiped away quickly.  
“My mother was the general, and during the war, the fort was cut off from reinforcements for three years, during which my parents fell in love and had me. My father died the day before you and the Avatar ended the war…”  
“I’m so sorry. If I had been faster…”  
“No. Do not blame yourself. Blame those who started the war, those who continued it. You and Avatar Aang saved everyone. It was always his destiny, but you turned against your own people, against your own family to do it.”  
Zuko was silent at this. Her words didn’t fix the hole in his heart, the immense weight of responsibility and shame for everything that had happened.  
“So, once the war was over, my mother thought I should come and see the other half of my heritage. I have cousins here, and two of them are water benders! Your friend Katara has been teaching them, she is pretty cool.”  
“Yeah she is.”  
The mention of Katara soothed him as he imagined what she would say if he continued to blame himself for the deaths of the war.  
“You are here to find her, right? Maybe I can help?”  
“Yeah, that’s right. And you can come along if you want, a guide who knows the area would be useful.”  
“I actually know someone who would be better at that than me. I’ll be back.”  
She was gone before he could respond. He turned to the captain and discussed what the crew should do while he was searching for Katara for a few minutes before Kira returned, leading another girl by the hand.  
“My Lord.”  
“Zuko is fine…”  
“Zuko, this is Kano.”  
Kano was a year or two younger than Kira, with bright blue eyes and the darker skin of the Southern Water Tribe.  
“A pleasure to meet you.”  
“I’m Kira’s girlfriend, well, one of them.”  
When Zuko looked confused, she continued, as Kira turned red.  
“She has three girlfriends, and she had a boyfriend, but he got too jealous because girlfriends are better than boyfriends.”  
Kira put her hand over Kano’s mouth.  
“I’m sure the Firelord doesn’t want to hear about my love life…”  
“It certainly sounds busy, I barely had enough time for one girlfriend.”  
Kira grimaced.  
“It’s very true, time management is a real issue.”  
He laughed, and she joined in, letting Kano slip free to stand next to her, looking very serious.  
“She said you are going to look for Master Katara.”  
“That’s right, are you a water bender?”  
“I’m learning, I am friends with Kira’s cousins who are in the class.”  
“Excellent, even a trainee water bender is better than nothing. Are your parents okay with you coming?”  
Kano didn’t answer this, instead moving closer to Kira, who spoke softly.  
“Her parents are dead, died in the prisons that the Fire Nation built for captured water benders.”  
Zuko started to apologise again, but she cut him off.  
“You will waste your whole life just saying sorry for the crimes of your people. Apologise through actions, not words.”  
He nodded, not sure now to respond. Kano looked at him, her face hard and set with a very adult seriousness, despite her age. He knew why, she was old enough that the Fire Nation would have taken her to the prisons along with her parents, to be lifted off the ground and away from all water. He had visited the prisons only after his coronation, as his new government had worked to free all the prisoners of war. Many of them had not been able to walk when they were released, and some had even died as soon as they were freed, having been clinging to life in captivity out of sheer stubbornness. The conditions had horrified him, and the negligence displayed by the Fire Nation was disgusting to an extreme. It had taken nine months from the first release to the last, as Zuko and his government had tracked down records of which prisoners were where. More than eighty Fire Nation officials had been executed for their part in the mistreatment of prisoners of war, and many more had been forced to pay restitution to their victims.  
The Earth Kingdom prisons hadn’t been anywhere near as bad, though a few officials had been executed for their mistreatment of prisoners as well. Zuko theorised that there was very much a prejudiced element to it, the people of the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation were much more similar, both in appearance and personality, while the Southern and Northern Water Tribes were more exotic. But that was an issue for the scholars and historians, Zuko had more pressing matters.  
“Well, I will start off by trying to find your Waterbending Teacher, though it feels a little selfish, since she is also my friend.”  
“She talks about you a lot.”  
Zuko smiled.  
“Meet me here tomorrow morning.”


	4. Onto the Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko and his team chase down the strange girl.

Zuko woke  early and set about organizing his team. Most of his people were staying behind, too many people would only slow them down. Two of his soldiers were coming, a married couple named  Yua and  Minato , as well as  a tracker named  Yang. Joining them were  Kira and Kano , and them Zuko himself. The six set off early, each carrying a pack with supplies and dressed for the cold.  Luckily for the group, there had not been snow nor significant wind since the  attacker’s departure and  Katara’s following, so the  tracks were easy to follow. Curiously, they headed inland, instead of towards any coast that Zuko was aware of, which surprised him. The only way to leave the south pole was via boat, and it only got colder the further towards the centre of the ice sheet you travelled.  It soon grew too cold to talk  comfortably , and the group had been silent for many hours when  Yang, who was in the lead, stopped.

“There was a fight up ahead…”   
Zuko moved forward quickly, reaching Yang and looking where the man was pointing. The fight had been fierce, there were 5 bodies on the ground, wearing dark greens and browns, clearly the bandits. They had been killed by ice shards that remained imbedded in their frozen corpses. It must have been Katara, Zuko thought, but where was she now? He looked around more carefully but couldn’t see a body anywhere.   
“There are more tracks further on, they must have continued without their fallen compatriots.”   
Yang pointed to the far side of the battlefield as he spoke.   
“Katara must have caught up to them and attacked to try to free the captives.”   
Kano looked at the dead men and women with a shocked expression on her face.   
“Katara did this? Killed those people? With waterbending?”

Zuko looked at her.   
“She did it to protect others. Something you will need to learn as well. Come, if they have Katara we need to move quickly.”

As they walked onwards, the two children took quite a liking to the young fire nation warrior Minato. He and his newly wedded wife were thinking of having children of their own soon, and he apparently was testing out his parenting skills. His wife, Yua looked on, with a smile on her face as her husband gave relationship advice, carried Kano across dangerous ice fields, and told children’s stories from the fire nation.

It took two days before Zuko finally spotted something rather odd in the distance. It was a small patch of green grass, solitary in the mass of ice and snow that dominated the landscape. As the group got closer, they saw that the grass was surrounding a strange hole in the ground, a hole with a ladder leading down into the darkness.   
“This must have been where they went, there isn’t anything else out here.”   
As Zuko spoke there was movement at the hole, and a head poked out, carefully looking around before climbing out of the hole. Everyone outside had ducked into the snow, and after a moment, Zuko slowly crept up behind the man and grabbed him, one of his blades at the other man’s throat.   
“Scream and you die...”   
The man nodded.   
“How many of you are there?”   
“Only nine now...”   
Zuko thought for a moment.   
“Tell me about the girl.”   
“Her name is Anako, she is the fire that burns the non-believers.”   
“How can she bend fire and earth.”   
“She is the Avatar, the true Avatar!”   
Zuko slit the man’s throat, letting the body slump down into the snow before returning to the others.   
“There are eight of them left. This must be a cave of some sort, so we will be at a disadvantage if we try to attack, but we need to go in, they have prisoners.”

He looked around to the nodding faces.   
“I’ll go in first, Minato and Yua after me.”   
Unable to carry weapons down the ladder, Zuko held a dagger in his teeth before starting the climb, going as quietly as possible. A minute later, and he found himself at the bottom of the strange shaft. There was firelight ahead, and he started to sneak forward as Minato’s feet hit the ground behind him. The cave was small, with a number of tunnels that spun off in all direction. Zuko felt a heavy feeling in his stomach at the thought of fighting an earthbender in a cave, but a moment later her saw her, and his worry flowed away like water.

Katara was alive, beaten and bruised, and tied up to a rock in the centre of a circular cave chamber. She was half naked, and a young girl was standing in front of her, holding a knife as she carved strange symbols into Katara’s belly.

Zuko didn’t stop to think, he charged out, sending a burst of flames at the young girl and two of her soldiers in half a second. The two soldiers crumped as the heat hit them, but the girl was ready, and easily deflected the flames before throwing the dagger with terrific force. It missed Zuko, but he hadn’t been the target. Minato’s body fell to the ground with a thump, right in front of Yua, who yelled and sent another burst of fire towards the girl.

This time she blocked it with a wall of stone drawn from the roof of the cave, a wall which she immediately threw at Zuko, who had to throw himself sideways to dodge it. A moment later, Kano was there, sending a whip of water at the girl, who just burned it away with a wave of intense flame that Zuko was forced to block, jumping in front of Kano. The girl’s soldiers started to move as well, but two of them dropped quickly, arrows in their throats from Yang, who charged into the room, followed by Kira, who was also holding a bow.

Zuko gestured at her to stay in cover before he moved in with his swords to intercept two more of the soldiers who were charging towards Yang, but he had only just started to duel them, when another wave of fire flowed over the soldiers and Zuko. The girl,  Anako , had no regard for the lives of her followers, and had sent her flames to try to incinerate Zuko, along with whoever was near him. The move caught Zuko off guard, and he felt his skin blister and start to peel under the heat before he managed to throw off the fire, but then the ground beneath him shifted, and he felt himself begin to get sucked under. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the ground stopped moving, and Zuko looked up to see Katara bending a thin line of her own spilled blood around the young girl’s throat. Zuko grunted, trying to free himself from the ground as he watched Yang and Kira fell one more guard each. The last two guards ran around a corner, fleeing the fight, though Zuko wasn’t sure where they planned to go down here.

Then  Anako free herself from Katara’s blood, slamming the  waterbender with a large chunk of stone before running as well, chasing after her fleeing men.

Zuko ran after, only stopping to send a bolt of flame to free Katara, who immediately follower, despite the deep cuts on her stomach. As they rounded the corner, the smell of a forest hit them, and they saw an impossible sight ahead of them. There was a hole in the air. A hole in the air, through which the soldiers and  Anako were dragging their victims. The moment they were through,  Anako punched the  groung , and a wave of earth flew everything, and the cave collapsed, burying Zuko and Katara in a few metres of rock.

**Author's Note:**

> More to come.


End file.
